spearhead

Oct 22 2011, 09:40 PM

Tsk tsk tsk. I smell mutiny:

Military officers mull on resigning
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/10...-mull-resigning

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Ilang senior military officers ang nag-iisip na umanong magbitiw ngayon sa kanilang mga puwesto bilang protesta sa polisiya ng administrasyon sa CPP-NPA at MILF. Sinasabing masakit din ang kanilang loob lalo’t tila kinampihan pa ng pangulo ang MILF sa command conference kahapon.

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Retaliatory attacks

In Cotabato City, MILF spokesperson Von al Haq said the MILF rebels staged the series of ambushes in Zamboanga Sibugay because the military had been pounding rebel positions in Payao town since Saturday.

“That’s the consequences of their action. It’s retaliation, part of war. Soldiers have been indiscriminately pounding our position and civilian areas in Payao town,” Al Haq said in a phone interview.

However, the attacks on Alicia and Kabasalan, which were led by Alloy, a commander under the MILF’s 114th Base Command, was not coordinated with the MILF central committee, Al Haq said.

“The action of our men was not organizational. It means the order to attack did not come from the central committee. It was their decision,” he said.

Al Haq said the MILF’s ceasefire committee has been working with its government counterpart to defuse the tensions.

On Tuesday, 19 soldiers were killed in a clash with MILF rebels in Al-Barka, Basilan, while on a mission to arrest a local MILF commander, Dan Laksaw Asnawi.

The military had said Asnawi was a fugitive. Asnawi, who operates under the MILF’s 114th Base Command, was charged with involvement in the beheading and mutilation of Marine soldiers, also in Al-Barka, in 2007.

He was arrested but escaped from the Basilan provincial jail, along with more than two dozen inmates, in December 2009.

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Military air strikes

In Olutangga, Zamboanga Sibugay, parish priest Fr. Felmar Castrodes said he had been informed by villagers that the military had conducted air strikes against MILF forces in Payao town on Friday.

He said the air strikes started 4 p.m. Friday and were reported to him by residents of the villages bordering Payao and Olutangga towns.

“They feared that the violence would spread to their town,” he said in a text message.

The report could not immediately be verified. The military spokesperson based in Zamboanga City could not be reached for comment.

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Military air strikes

In Olutangga, Zamboanga Sibugay, parish priest Fr. Felmar Castrodes said he had been informed by villagers that the military had conducted air strikes against MILF forces in Payao town on Friday.

He said the air strikes started 4 p.m. Friday and were reported to him by residents of the villages bordering Payao and Olutangga towns.

“They feared that the violence would spread to their town,” he said in a text message.

The report could not immediately be verified. The military spokesperson based in Zamboanga City could not be reached for comment.

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Slain soldiers’ replacements sent to Zamboanga City, ready to fight
Special Forces are young, newly trained and new to Basilan

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But military officials were unfazed.

Lieutenant Colonel Orlando Edralin, Special Forces Training Corps commandant, said the fresh graduates might be young but they had been properly trained.

“Aside from their Basic Military Training (BMT), they actually underwent Special Forces Orientation Course and some will be programmed for in-serving and cross trainings for their capability enhancement,” he said.

Edralin said if he had his way, he would have deployed the fresh soldiers immediately.

But then, he said, their actual trip to Basilan and to Zamboanga Sibugay would be decided on by the regiment commander.

Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, spokesperson of the Western Mindanao Command, said the military was not trying to avenge the deaths of the 19 soldiers.
He said the fresh soldiers were being sent to Basilan and Zamboanga Sibugay under a “regular deployment” process.

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Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino ordered the relief of another ranking military officer in Basilan in the wake of the Al-Barka incident.
The Task Force Basilan commander, Colonel Alexander Macario, was sacked on Friday.

“I was expecting this because of command responsibility,” Macario told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Macario said he was not formally briefed when the Al-Barka operation was launched but he accepted responsibility for what happened to the 19 soldiers.
“Since I am the island commander of Basilan, responsibility will definitely fall on me,” he said.

On October 19, Colonel Leonardo Peña, battalion commander of 4th Special Forces Battalion, was also sacked on orders of Philippine Army Commanding General Arturo Ortiz.

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Valte said the administration understood that emotions have been running high because of the MILF’s attack on the members of the Special Forces that were in Al-Barka to serve a warrant of arrest against a Moro commander suspected of involvement in past war atrocities but added that decisions should be made with calm.

Told that the Filipino people—President Aquino’s boss—want the military to go after the MILF, Valte said, “Let us just reiterate, the human cost of war will be too great. That’s what the President said yesterday.”

“We understand, believe us, we understand the views and sentiments. We are also part of the nation, we’re not different from you, but as the President said, we have to think when we are calm so that we can lay down our plans because we can’t be reckless ,” Valte said.

“Because if we do that there would be more lives that will be lost. Even if emotions are running high, we have to be calm when we take our next steps,” she added.

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Parlade, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1987,  maintained that his call for the resumption of hostilities with the rebels in Basilan was shared by his peers and colleagues in the Army.

“I’m happy knowing our soldiers’ voice and sentiments were heard,” Parlade said. “We are not politicians, we are soldiers. Professional soldiers.”

Cabunoc acknowledged that some Army members might share Parlade’s views but stressed this was not true for the entire organization.

“Of course the prevailing sentiment (in the Army) is anger and sadness… There are officers who agree with him, and there are officers who don’t. If you asked one platoon, they would give different answers,” he said.

“But it’s not the position of the whole Army,” said Cabunoc, a member of the PMA Class of 1994.

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Military air strikes

In Olutangga, Zamboanga Sibugay, parish priest Fr. Felmar Castrodes said he had been informed by villagers that the military had conducted air strikes against MILF forces in Payao town on Friday.

He said the air strikes started 4 p.m. Friday and were reported to him by residents of the villages bordering Payao and Olutangga towns.

“They feared that the violence would spread to their town,” he said in a text message.

The report could not immediately be verified. The military spokesperson based in Zamboanga City could not be reached for comment.

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The July 2007 incident

The International Crisis Group (ICG), an independent and non-profit think-tank committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflicts worldwide, described the cause of the killings in 2007 as a lack of coordination between the military and the MILF in the rescue of kidnapped Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi.

The ICG said MILF forces helping in the search for Bossi had already stood down before the incident, expressing concern that a mistaken encounter might occur in the absence of a clear Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) mandate, which had expired on June 21.

The AHJAG is a joint effort of the Philippine government and the MILF that seeks to interdict and isolate lawless elements that take refuge in or near MILF communities.

Add to the potent mix the case of Basilan province, where the military can't simply throw its weight around.

An ICG report said Basilan's unique volatility arises from the fact that the small island is home to 3 heavily-armed groups -- the MILF and its predecessor the Moro National Liberation Front, as well as all as the terrorist bandit Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).

"Clans are often involved in all three networks, as well as local electoral politics, where access to high-powered firearms is at a premium," the report added.

Marines troops set out on patrol on the morning of July 10, 2007, after receiving a tip that Fr. Bossi had been seen in Al-Barka municipality.

"Two days earlier, Basilan marine commander Col. Ramiro Alivio told Crisis Group that unusually large formations of armed men – several hundred strong – had been making their presence felt in the area for some months. Rather than attempting to distinguish their component members, which could have involved a complicated 'paper trail' with the ceasefire committee, Alivio chose to regard them as undifferentiated lawless elements," the ICG said.

The Marines' patrol turned up nothing and their luck turned for the worse when one of their trucks bogged down in the mud. The soldiers then alighted from their vehicles and fanned out to secure the perimeter.

"The site – in Guinanta village – is the location of two of the MILF's three brigade commands in Basilan. Unknown to the Marines, MILF forces were closely observing their movements. As the Marines came within meters of the guerrillas’ high ground, gunfire erupted," the ICG said.

An official of the joint government and MILF Coordinating Committees on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) said the gunbattle became a one-sided "pintakasi" for locals, who all went after the Marines.

"Once combat began, armed men from surrounding neighborhoods, including ASG fighters, joined against the Marines in the hope of sharing in the spoils – captured equipment, arms or ammunition – or of avenging past wrongs," the ICG said. "Followers of local politicians were embittered by the Marines' rigid enforcement of the previous May's election gun ban."

Twenty-three government troops were killed in the incident, which according to the ICG, "demonstrated the power of a momentary tactical alliance across organizational boundaries."

The October 2011 incident

On October 17, some 100 Special Forces soldiers were involved in an operation in Sitio Bakisong, Cambug Village, Al-Barka town against a small group of men led by Asnawi and Abu Sayyaf members Nursahan Jamiri and Long Malat, according to Col. Carlito Galvez, Army chief operations divisions at the office of the deputy chief of staff.

Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, AFP Western Mindanao Command spokesman, also said government troops "were operating based on the information of the presence of an armed group, possibly (holding) kidnap victims."

It was not clear who fired the first shots but like in the 2007 incident, government troops suddenly found themselves outnumbered as MILF reinforcements came.

"Initially, the encountered lawless were about 10 but eventually reinforcement came from the north and it swelled to more or less 400," Galvez said.

"Nagsimula siya ng 7 ng umaga to 4 p.m.," Cabangbang told ANC. "It gave opportunity to other armed groups to join not because they have something against soldiers but they want to help relatives and recover firearms."

"Kung mga may baril sasali. Basta may firefight may sasali," he said, adding that even women may have joined the battle. "Ang daming baril diyan ng mga babae, they joined ‘yung mga enkwentro na ganyan."

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Biazon wants security council meet to form a stand on MILF

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Biazon earlier suggested the suspension of the ceasefire particularly in Basilan, after the deadly clash between government and MILF forces last Tuesday.

Some lawmakers also called out for an all-out war on the MILF, a position Biazon did not support.

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“We may resort to an all-out war, but not before we try everything to achieve peace without cost," he added.

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Ops vs lawless elements ongoing

But earlier, President Benigno Aquino III said the operations in Zamboanga Sibugay were aimed at lawless elements who killed seven soldiers and wounded eight others there this week.

“There are ongoing operations in Zamboanga Sibugay as we speak, hindi hihinto. Gusto kong iparating na ang estado handang ipagtanggol ang ating mga kababayan... Yung mga akalang makalulusot, palagay ko madadama nila kung ano ang ibig sabihin pag nakatutok ang estado sa pagtutugis sa kanila, Aquino said in an interview Friday night.

Also, he said no one can conclude the MILF was behind the Zamboanga Sibugay incident, at least for now, adding, “Hindi pwedeng haka-haka lang."

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Aquino went to the Libingan ng mga Bayani Friday night to pay his final respects to 15 of the 19 soldiers killed by alleged joint Abu Sayyaf and MILF troops Tuesday.

He talked to the slain soldiers’ families to personally give his condolences.

"Gusto nila ng katarungan para sa kanilang mga kamag-anak," he said, adding that the relatives of one soldier asked why he was suddenly sent to a dangerous mission when they knew all along that he was just studying.

"Mali naman kung ide-detalye ko ngayon kung ano iyung natuklasan natin kanina," the President said, referring to a command conference he chaired earlier in the day that tackled the Basilan incident.

He said a thorough investigation has been launched and at least 2 military officials have been relieved from their posts because of the Basilan incident.

"Mayroong inaasahan na paglabas ng imbestigasyon by next week, at kung kinakailangan magkakaroon tayo ng court martial kung may mga nagkulang, na lalabas sa magiging resulta ng imbestigasyon na ito," he assured.

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Lessons must be learned

Aquino said the military should learn from the incident. "Iyung mas maganda po, iyung susunod na mga operasyon, mas talagang pinaghandaan."

The President also said he will wait for the results of the ongoing investigation with regard to the MILF's claim that its spy in the military tipped the rebels regarding the Special Forces operation.

"Nagbigay ng details iyung operations kanina, napakaraming route iyung dinaanan," Aquino said, adding that he had to ask why the Special Forces team did not use a faster and safer approach to reach its target. "Isa iyon sa mga iniimbestigahan ngayon."